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VHF-DSC Part 5: MMSI (Maritime Mobile Service Identity)

October 14, 2019 · 7 min · 8K views

What this video covers

The Maritime Mobile Service Identity (MMSI) consists of a nine-digit number assigned to a vessel or maritime station for identification in DSC radio, AIS, and satellite EPIRB systems.0:06 The first three digits, known as the Maritime Identification Digits (MID), indicate the vessel's country of registration.1:06 The first digit of the MID identifies the continent: 2 for Europe, 3 for North America, 4 for Asia, 5 for Oceania, 6 for Africa, and 7 for South America.2:11 For example, the MID 224 or 226 identifies a Spanish vessel, while 234 or 235 denotes the United Kingdom and 247 signifies Italy.2:29 Stations other than individual vessels use specific prefixes: coastal stations begin with 00, groups of ships start with 10, and search-and-rescue aircraft begin with 11.4:07 Personal locator beacons and some portable VHF radios use different numerical prefixes.4:20 Public databases allow users to look up vessel information using these unique identifiers.6:19

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